The "bee" way of life...

Jason has recently become obsessed with the Jerry Seinfeld "Bee Movie" and I find ourselves becoming more and more "busy as bees". Scott's parents came for a visit about 2 weeks ago. It was a quick trip but we always love seeing family. The kids loved having Grammy Jean and Big Pappa come to play. Jason got horsey rides all over the living room and Ryan got more kisses and snuggles than I've seen in a long time (except for just one week prior when my parents were in town--spoiled rotten my kids are!)


We also got to take them with us to the annual ward chili cook off. There were no prizes for chili this year but I did make a fun dessert.


After they left I kicked into high-catering-gear and wrapped up a huge wedding reception on Saturday. It was a crepe bar for 200 people and when I woke up Sunday morning every muscle and joint ached in a way they have never ached before (except when I was pregnant which of course has been twice in the last 3 years-ha ha!)
The bride's colors were brown, green, and blue--sounds interesting but turned out really cute!



When all was said and done, it turned out fabulously, the bride and family were very happy with everything, which makes us very happy with everything. I'm just glad that this business adventure of mine is a fun choice and not shear necessity. When I was done I got to come home to a clean house, bathed and sleeping boys and a great husband who was excited to hear all about everything. I got to sit on the sofa and eat a huge piece of chocolate wedding cake and get my feet rubbed. Not every woman is so lucky. I admire single and working mothers who do full time jobs and then come home to work their tails off there as well. You can't give 100% to every facet of your life. You only have a total of 100% and have to divide it amongst the things that matter most. Hopefully your kids and spouse never suffer because of personal ambition but can be blessed by having a woman in their lives that has learned to balance her time for her, for them, for church, for talents, for exercise, and on and on (easy right?)

When the boys woke up Sunday morning, Jason gave me a big hug and said "mom, you're back!" And there was a twinge of guilt for having been away from him all day and lots of pleasure that he missed me that much. I'm very blessed to get to stay home with my kids and frankly their lives are better for it! I wouldn't have it any other way (except for a live in maid and a person who specifically cleans up the kitchen after I have all the fun of cooking and messing it up!) Oh the dream!

Samson is no more...

For the longest time people in our ward referred to Ryan as Samson because of his long hair. I loved the curls and didn't want to cut it, hence the nickname. Well, since his hair was so long he couldn't see when he walked and a sweet but drastically WRONG old lady mistook him for an adorable little girl at the mall the other day, I finally gave in. We went on the traditional family field trip to Cool Cuts for Kids and here are the photos from the traumatic experience (more for me than for him). I did keep a few curls in an envelope just to remind me how "pretty" they were. Hopefully my girls will be as lucky with their golden locks!

BEFORE...


TRAUMATIC FINISH...


MUCH HAPPIER...

The Big Visit

First and foremost, let me say--Nevada is a rip off! I am missing out on my favorite season of the year. That's right folks, I love the fall. I love everything about it, the smells, colors of changing leaves, hearty comfort foods right out of grandma's recipe book, but especially hot chocolate and sweater weather. Living here I GET NONE OF IT, AGGGHHHHH! So I've decided to rebel and wear a sweater, wool skirt and my favorite brown leather boots to church on Sunday. It may be 90 degrees outside, and I might sweat like a hog but it is the middle of October and I am done with summer so Las Vegas had better get with the program!

I guess to make up for the weather, we have begun making gourmet caramel apples for our business. They've been a big hit cuz I just made 16 for one person this week. General Conference was much needed and so fantastic! But even better than all of that--my family came to visit! Mom, Dad and Missy arrived Sunday evening and we have had a blast. We (the girls) hit up the Premium Outlets and I have a few new favorite stores there--Anne Klein & Anne Taylor--I never knew what I was missing! We've eaten out so much I want to explode and even had our traditional "pre" Thanksgiving dinner. Oh yes, you heard me right, turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie--you name it, we ate it. However, we did try out the Las Vegas Zoo...it turned out to be three tiny acres of pigeons running around, a few peacocks, LOTS of chickens and a stinky, smoked filled gift shop full of things from a previous century (including the cashier). Lucky for us, Jason didn't know the difference and had a great time feeding the big birds with Papa (currently his favorite person in the whole world). He loves sitting on his lap and driving Dad's big truck in our neighborhood.

Anyway, just wanted to say that grandparents (good ones--cuz not everyone has great ones like my kids and me) are angels. It is so great to have family in town and catch up with them. Mom and Dad took off this morning but we get to keep Missy until Tuesday. I wish I had 2 extra hands every day of my life!

IT IS OFFICIAL!

My business website is officially online. It makes everything so real, so fast. Now all I have to do is a ton of marketing--that is the easy part right? ha ha! Check us out at www.chocolateaproncatering.com Hopefully it keeps you drooling for days! *A big thank you to my cousin Ben who designed the website. He is amazing and if anyone wants his contact info for web design, don't hesitate to ask!